Alfred John Plastino[1] (December 15, 1921 – November 25, 2013) was an American comic book artist best known as one of the most prolific Superman artists of the 1950s, along with his DC Comics colleague Wayne Boring. Plastino also worked as a comics writer, editor, letterer and colorist.

While working out of a studio in New York City with two other cartoonists in 1948, Plastino showed sample art of Superman to DC Comics, which offered him work at $35 a page. Plastino, who had heard that Superman artists were receiving $55 a page, negotiated a $50 rate.[7] Now settled in the comic book field, he largely dropped other commercial work for two decades. Early on at DC, Plastino was forced to copy Wayne Boring's style but gradually began using his own style.[8] He did 48[5]Superman covers as well as countless DC stories. Plastino and writer Bill Finger produced the story for Superman #61 (Nov. 1949) in which kryptonite, which had originated on the The Adventures of Superman radio program made its way into the comic books.[9] He drew the Lois Lane feature in Showcase #9 (Aug. 1957) which served as a tryout for the character's own series.[10]

Plastino's "greatest pride"'[1] was a story he drew for Superman #168 (April 1964, scheduled for publication Feb. 1964), titled "Superman's Mission for President Kennedy."[15] The piece was done in collaboration with the Kennedy administration to help promote the president’s national physical fitness program. In the story, Superman visits the White House, and trusts President John F. Kennedy with his secret identity. The story was produced shortly before Kennedy was assassinated, which led to the cancellation of its publication. At the behest of President Lyndon B. Johnson, it was published two months later, in Superman #170 (June 1964),[15] with Plastino adding a title page showing a ghostly figure of Kennedy looking down from the heavens at Superman flying over Washington, D.C.[16] Plastino had always believed the artwork had been donated to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, but the artwork was placed on auction by a private entity in late 2013.[16][17] DC Entertainment subsequently purchased the art and donated it to the Library.[18]

In the early 1970s, DC Comics, fearing Jack Kirby's versions of Superman and Jimmy Olsen were too different from their established representations, assigned Plastino (among other artists) to redraw those characters' heads in Kirby's various titles.[19] In 1996, Plastino was one of the many artists who contributed to the Superman: The Wedding Album one-shot wherein the title character married Lois Lane.[20]

Plastino also worked on Sunday episodes of Nancy from 1982 to 1983 after Ernie Bushmiller died.[23] Plastino's official website says the artist was commissioned by the United Media newspaper syndicate to ghost Peanuts when Charles Schulz underwent heart surgery in the 1980s,[4] but David Michaelis, author of Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography, revealed that syndicate president William C. Payette had hired Plastino to draw a backlog of Peanuts strips during contract negotiations with Schulz in the 1970s. When Schulz and the syndicate reached a successful agreement, United Media stored these unpublished strips, the existence of which eventually became public.[24]

^Zeno, Ed (December 2, 2013). "Excerpts from Last Superman Standing: The Al Plastino Story". The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. When asked why he broke from following Boring’s lead, Plastino said, 'No one said change it. Wayne’s work was really clean cut and professional, though the characters were a little stiff. It almost hurt me to draw like him. I tried to keep the look consistent, but it gradually did change.'

^Wallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1940s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 61. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. Kryptonite finally appeared in comics following its introduction in The Adventures of Superman radio show back in 1943. In a story by writer Bill Finger and artist Al Plastino...the Man of Steel determined that the cause of his weakness was a piece of meteorite rock.

^Irvine, Alex "1950s" in Dolan, p. 85: "The future title Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane got a tryout in issues #9 and #10 of Showcase, when Lois Lane stepped in as the lead feature. The lead story in Showcase #9, 'The Girl in Superman's Past', by writer Jerry Coleman and artist Al Plastino, introduced Lois Lane to Superman's old flame Lana Lang."

^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 89: "The Legion of Super-Heroes would become one of DC's most enduring and popular groups despite their humble beginnings, in a story by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino."

^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 90: "The mythology of Krypton expanded dramatically with the introduction of the evil Brainiac and the Bottle City of Kandor in the Action Comics #242 story 'The Super-Duel in Space', written by Otto Binder and [drawn by] artist Al Plastino"

^Evanier, Mark (August 22, 2003). "Jack Kirby's Superman". News From ME. Archived from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2012. Plastino drew new Superman figures and Olsen heads in roughly the same poses and positions, and these were pasted into the artwork.